Fórsa has pledged to cooperate fully with HSE plans to deploy public health workers in private nursing homes on a voluntary basis, after gaining important staff protections in an agreement reached with unions earlier this week.

The HSE has conceded that pregnant health workers should not be rostered to Covid-specific units or wards, and should instead be redeployed to lower-risk duties.

Fórsa has again approached the HSE seeking childcare support for essential health care staff. The union has been looking for this since schools and creches were closed in response to the coronavirus last month.

Governments across Europe must shun austerity and take an imaginative approach to the huge fiscal and economic challenges that the coronavirus has unleashed, according to Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan.

Fórsa’s social media campaign to highlight the work of members who are part of the coordinated effort to address the Covid-19 crisis continues this week.